The assassination of Benazir Bhutto

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto may have been carried out by Islamic fundamentalists or terrorists, but as Ms. Bhutto said repeatedly before her death, the assassins almost certainly have the support and aid of retired and serving members of Pakistani government, military and ISI military intelligence. Hussan Haqqani, a former adviser to Ms. Bhutto, in his book “Pakistan between Masque and military” shows that throughout the Pakistan’s history its military intelligence services have covertly funded and supported Islamic fundamentalist parties and military terrorist groups in order to weaken secular parties such as Bhutto’s PPP, progressive and Nationalist movement Likes (Karakorum National Movement) KNM, BNF, ANP in Karakoram and NWFP respectably and maintain their own power.
They have sown mistrust between civilian political leaders in order to create political crises that give them an excuse to intervene and maintain their own vast budget at the expense of the mass of Pakistan’s population, who continue to suffer in poverty (many of them supporters of PPP and Nationalist movements in Pakistan and Karakoram).
The US government’s mistaken belief that the military are a “force for moderation” in Pakistan has led them to fund and arm them through military aid.
That aid may well have helped to fund the assassination. No action was taken by Musharraf against any officers named by Ms. Bhutto as some suspected of involvement in the first suicide bombing attempt on her life in October.
The British government and international community should end all political support for military involvement in Pakistan’s government and do everything to persuade the US government to end military aid and changed foreign policy toward Pakistan particularly and third world countries in general and replace it with aid to charities, human rights groups and progressive movements in Pakistan and Karakoram (Gilgit-Baltistan) .
Sher Babadur
Senior member of Karakoram Students Organisation (KSO) and human right activist.